A wealthy Chinese family lived in a village far in the interior of China. They sent one of their children, a little girl, to the mission school to get a good education, but they did not want her to become a Christian. However God had His plans, and before long the young child opened her heart to the Lord Jesus and began to pray. She was ridiculed and harshly treated for this at home, and when the old grandfather found her on her knees, he beat and kicked her. But the girl, although only eight years of age, remained steadfast, praying most earnestly that the Lord would save her grandfather, whom she loved in spite of the cruel way he treated her.
One day the grandfather came ruing home very much excited. He took the little girl by the hand, put her into the inner chamber and said: “The robber soldiers are coming, they are going to rob us. You know how to pray. Pray to your God to save us,” and he shut the door upon her. Through the thin partition wall the members of the family could hear her pleading with the Lord to save them on this day of trouble, so that all the family, especially the grandfather, might see that the Lord really hears and answers prayer.
The officer of the soldiers rode at the head of his men and went straight to the house of this rich family, where he was sure to get a great loot. The gate was not closed, for they knew the robbers would have broken in just the same. But suddenly the horse stopped at the open gate. Neither whipping, nor cursing, nor coaxing availed anything; the horse would not move. At last the soldiers cried out: “This house must be full of demons, we cannot see them, but the horse sees them and is afraid. We must not enter here.” Not one soldier dared to go through that gate. The old man went into the chamber to the little girl, laid his hand tenderly on her head and said: “The Lord has heard your prayer.”
The same evening the old man went to the missionary and asked him with tears in his eyes: “Tell me more about the true God who hears prayer and teach me to pray too, for I would like to pray as my little granddaughter does.”
I cannot tell you if he was really saved after this or not, but I believe that the Lord who answered the prayers of this little girl in time of trouble, would also answer her prayers for her grandfather’s salvation.
We know, however, that many people turn to the Lord in trouble, and ask Him to deliver them, but they have never opened their hearts and received Christ as their Saviour. Perhaps the one who reads these lines has asked the Lord to make you well again in sickness, but I wonder if you have ever asked Him to cleanse away your sins in His precious blood. He invites you to come to Him and be saved, for His Word says,
ML 11/29/1953